Barnes and Noble closing stores: End of the bookstore?

     While Barnes and Noble's announcement of future store closings didn't reference any particular store closings it is fairly safe to assume that our store in Long Gate will not be on the list.  Howard County's well educated population will always be a good spot for a bookstore.  Since the closing of the Borders store in Columbia Crossing a while back I have had to relocate my afternoon breaks with a latte and one of the latest non-fiction books to our remaining Barnes and Noble.  Somehow I have never been a fan of the Barnes and Noble store because of how they organize their book sections, their lack of stuffed chairs and the limited seating at the in-store Starbucks.
     Because of the growth of online retailing I can only image that there will come a time when the physical retail bookstore will only be a memory.  E-readers are the future and bookstores will seem as out of date as a store selling vinyl records or eight track tapes.  I can handle not having a print newspaper but I will mourn the ending of my afternoon breaks in a bookstore.  So I will not take for granted that this pleasure is still here now but knowing that it too will soon be only a memory.

P.S.
I have tried the Books-a-Million that replaced the Borders but somehow it seems a poor substitute for a Borders.

P.S.
Thanks to Trevor Greene for today's funniest Super Bowl related picture.